A bomb exploded near on East Jerusalem bus stop this afternoon, injuring 13 persons and causing severe damage to two nearby stores and cars parked in the area. Police sealed off the area and searched for suspects.
The blast occurred at 3:30 p.m. local time on Solab A-Din Street near the post office where the No. II bus line begins. The line, a frequent target of terrorist bombings in recent months, links East Jerusalem with the Jewish suburb of Bayit Vegan. Protests by the residents recently prompted the transit authorities to establish an alternate bus route that by-passes East Jerusalem. Police said the bomb was concealed in a paper sack which was left near the bus terminal.
Meanwhile, terrorists have stepped up attacks on Israeli targets overseas and are also striking at installations linked to Egypt. A bomb explosion caused slight damage to the building housing the Israeli Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus this morning. The Embassy offices occupy the third and fourth floors. At about the same time, another bomb damaged a travel agency that serves as agents for the Egyptian airline in Cyprus. It was also disclosed today that terrorists hurled a bomb at the EI AI office in Istanbul, Turkey from a moving car three days ago, It exploded on the pavement without causing damage.
These incidents, the capture at sea of a Cyprus-registered vessel transporting six Palestinian terrorists on a sabotage mission to Israel and the premature explosion of a booby-trapped suitcase at Frankfurt Airport just before it was loaded aboard an Israeli airliner, have prompted Israeli authorities to tighten security measures at home and abroad.
Police have issued new warnings to Israelis to be on the alert for booby-trapped letters or parcels. That danger Is not immediate, however, because of the present strike by postal workers. The warning will be reissued when mail deliveries return to normal.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
